Novi Pilates Studio

About Joseph Pilates

Born in a small town near Dusseldorf, Germany, in
1880, Joseph Pilates was a small and sickly child. Given an anatomy book
by a family physician, Joe began his study of the human body at an early
age. Using movement of his own body to learn and memorize every page of
the book, by 14 he was modeling for anatomy books himself. The son of a
gymnast father and naturopath mother, Joe later became a skilled boxer,
gymnast, circus performer, skier, and diver; he also practiced yoga and
Zen meditation. Through his own physical transformation, Joe came to
realize the simple truth and Power Pilates motto: Movement heals.

While in England when WWI broke out, Joe was
interned in a camp for German nationals. This is where he began to
develop his system of original exercises that he later called 'Contrology.'
He taught wrestling and self-defense to other interns and also worked
with the incarcerated and the diseased. Creating exercise and
rehabilitation apparatus to provide resistance training, the men Joe
worked with were the strongest and healthiest in the camp.

Returning
to Germany after the war ended, Joe trained military police and worked
with personal clients. Unhappy with the political direction of Germany,
in 1925 he left for the U.S. En route to New York City, he met his wife,
Clara, and they opened a gym upon arrival in 1926 side by side with
several dance studios and rehearsal spaces. 'Contrology' – today known
simply as Pilates – soon became a staple for dancers, used to
strengthen, balance and rehabilitate them. Clara and Uncle Joe, as he
lovingly came to be known, continued their training of both dancers and
pedestrians for decades.

After Joe passed away at the age of 87, Clara
continued to teach and run the studio until her death 10 years later.

About
Joseph’s equipment:

The origins of the
Pilates apparatus can be traced back to England during WWI when Joseph
Pilates was rehabilitating wounded soldiers. He began experimenting with
springs attached to hospital beds and the first piece of Pilates
apparatus – today known as the Cadillac – was born. Patients were able
to perform resistance exercises while still bed-ridden and Pilates
discovered that this speeded their recovery.

Later on Joe
worked as a circus artist where he got his initial idea for the Chair,
which he later went on to develop into a true home Reformer. He was
apparently very resourceful in finding his building material; it is said
that he constructed his first Barrel from half a beer keg, with the
steel hoops of the keg becoming the original Magic Circle.

After moving to the U.S., Joe established a little
workshop underneath his original New York studio on 8th Avenue at 56th
Street. Here he enthusiastically worked on creating additional Pilates
apparatus. Throughout his lifetime, he and his brother Fred continued to
develop and create new pieces of exercise apparatus, as well as
fine-tune their inventions.

The power of utilizing the Pilates apparatus lies
in its ability to provide mechanical advantage. Imagine, if you will,
putting a screw into a wall using just your fingers. Now imagine putting
that same screw into a wall using a screwdriver. This is mechanical
advantage. The assistance or resistance that the Pilates apparatus
provides allows us to work the body in a range of motion that we
otherwise could not effectively or safely maintain. A Pilates workout
utilizing all the apparatus is the path that leads to the greatest
results.